


Expensive Taste

by xmyp



Category: Shadowhunters (TV)
Genre: Episode: s01e10 This World Inverted, M/M, alec is not just a pretty face, alec is the better dressed for once, and by romance i mean that they boned, but he is a pretty face, i was mad that they did not develop au malecs romance so I took the liberty
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-25
Updated: 2019-05-25
Packaged: 2020-03-14 17:01:28
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,692
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18952276
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/xmyp/pseuds/xmyp
Summary: S01E10: This World InvertedA cautionary tale about dressing to impress and wearing socks on marble floors.





	Expensive Taste

**Author's Note:**

> I'm sure this AU has been done a million times, but I had to throw my hat in the ring as well.  
> Thank you to the beautiful SomethingWithAPotato for reading this and telling me it's good enough to post for others.

 

 

"Check it again. I  _ told _ you, I'm on the list," Magnus insisted, fidgeting uncomfortably. He was dressed in a brown floral top and a brown jacket, his hair side-parted and slicked back. The only splash of color on him was the thin red belt at his waist. He felt so out of place at such an extravagant party, but the chance to use his magic again was too irresistible to pass up. 

"You're not here," Raj, the brutish bouncer said, barely sparing a glance at the clipboard in his hand. 

The watchful eyes of Alec Lightwood looked on at the exchange from a short distance before he approached the two, his eyes never leaving the attractive newcomer. "What seems to be the problem?" Magnus felt himself shrink under tall, dark and handsome’s penetrating stare. 

"This one wants to crash the party," Raj replied. 

Magnus stood straight and returned Alec's gaze, saying nothing but standing his ground. 

"I'll be responsible for this one," Alec said with a smirk. He hadn't torn his eyes away from Magnus’s face once. "Come on in," he continued, waving Magnus forward and into the party. 

Magnus regarded Alec skeptically but followed nonetheless, grateful for the free pass.  

Alec grabbed two teacups of the signature cocktail off of a passing tray and turned to hand one to Magnus. The warlock only barely hesitated before taking it.

"To us," Alec said, holding up his cup to Magnus. 

Magnus wasn’t sure what to make of the toast, but smiled politely and brought his cup up to take a sip, his eyes wandering to the dance floor where a familiar redhead was. 

"And you are?" Alec asked, trying to regain Magnus's attention.

"Magnus Bane," the warlock said distractedly. 

"Alec Lightwood." Now that Alec had the chance, he looked Magnus up and down; upon the inspection, Alec noted that Magnus looked like a lost dad who had escaped his family of five. But without the said family of five in sight, Alec assumed Magnus was just a terrible dresser and moved on. And while the Asian man could definitely do with a wardrobe overhaul, there was plenty about Magnus that Alec could work with. He certainly wouldn’t mind getting the chance to mess up that neatly combed jet black hair. 

Magnus looked back at Alec, offering a halfhearted smile. "Thanks, but... I gotta go," Magnus said, awkwardly thumbing the opposite direction of Alec. 

Alec watched as Magnus walked away, his smirk returning. "Playing hard to get. I love a challenge."

His eyes followed Magnus’s form as it weaved through the crowd of people, his interest steadily peaking as the other man disappeared down a side hall with Clary, Jace following soon after. 

* * *

Magnus had barely finished cleaning up the mess made by the other-dimension shadowhunters (i.e. a dead Gila monster demon) when he heard the tell-tale sound of high-end loafers on marble headed toward him. He took a moment to straighten his jacket in an effort to look more presentable, not noticing that it was a moot point from the green blood on his sleeves. 

“There you are.” The familiar voice sent a shiver through Magnus and he turned on his heel to face the handsome man. 

“We meet again,” Magnus said, putting on his most pleasant customer-service smile. “Were you following me?”

Alec wasn’t put off by the question, a cheeky grin pulling at his lips as he leaned against a nearby shelf. “Maybe. Where’d our mutual friends disappear to?”

“Who knows, probably making out in a dark corner somewhere,” Magnus shrugged. It wasn’t a complete lie. Part of cleaning up the mess earlier was returning the Clary and Jace from this dimension back to blissful ignorance. For all he knew, they were now, in fact, actually making out in a corner somewhere.  

“Lucky them,” Alec said, moving away from the shelf and taking a step toward Magnus. “How about we do the same?”

Magnus let Alec invade his personal space, he even let him grab the front of his jacket and tug him closer. He vaguely recalled the earlier conversation with Clary where he mentioned his long-standing abstinence of anything that brought him joy. Now that his business here was done, he decided a little pleasure wouldn’t hurt. “What if I said you’re not my type?” Magnus said, his voice coy.

“I’d say you’re lying,” Alec replied with a husky voice, pressing Magnus backward until he hit a wall. 

“That’s bold of you,” Magnus said, already a little breathless from the close proximity to the younger man. 

“Not bold,” Alec slightly shook his head. “The look on your face tells me everything about what you think of me.”

“Surely not ‘everything’,” Magnus said. Despite his words, his hands found Alec’s waist and settled there. 

“Maybe not, but it’s enough to know you want me.”

Magnus surprised himself as he closed the distance between them, his lips smashing into Alec’s eagerly. Magnus thought to himself that Alec was not nearly as shocked as he should’ve been. 

Alec quickly took control of the kiss, threading his long fingers into Magnus’s hair and pulling a gasp from the warlock’s throat. He seized the opportunity to deepen the kiss, pressing his tongue between Magnus’s parted lips. Magnus then thought to himself that the party’s signature cocktail tasted much better on Alec’s tongue and lips. Magnus was entirely unprepared for this pleasurable assault on his senses and his body couldn’t help but respond, making Alec chuckled into the kiss as he pressed their hips together. 

“Don’t laugh,” Magnus said into the joining, breathless and flushed. 

Alec moved his lips away from Magnus’s and trailed them along the other man’s jaw, nipping at his un-pierced earlobe. For some reason, Alec imagined Magnus with an earring or two and felt his own pants tighten some. He’d give anything to see a messier version of the man before him. Part of Alec felt that this tight-laced dad look just didn’t suit Magnus.

“Do you want to get out of here?” Alec asked, his breath tickling Magnus’s ear. 

“And go where?” Magnus’s arms had encircled Alec’s back at some point and he was now clutching at the fabric of Alec’s Italian jacket. 

“Your place?” 

Magnus barely had a brain cell left and could only reply, “I have cats.”

Alec pulled back to look at Magnus, his lips tinted dark red and his cheeks pink. “Bummer, that’s my dealbreaker.”

“What?” Magnus’s eyes widened and he was sure his disappointment was written on his face.

Alec relented after a moment, grinning, “I’m joking. Let’s go.”

Magnus sighed in relief and grabbed Alec by the hand, letting him lead him back to the entrance of the Institute. 

* * *

The cab ride to Magnus’s apartment did little to sober their lust-drunk state. Alec had become particularly infatuated with the mole on Magnus’s neck at some point and had promptly attached his lips to it. He had been necking the warlock ever since the discovery and barely broke away to toss cash at the driver of the cab as they crawled out. 

Magnus felt absolutely electrified. No one had touched him like this in decades, not since the downworld had become particularly boring. Before, Magnus could go to any downworlder pub or club in the city and come home with a pretty someone (or multiple pretty someones). Now everyone was too domesticated and  _ mundane _ . Even he had succumbed to drabness, he noted, as he looked down at his own attire. 

Now here he was, stumbling out of a yellow cab with a descendant of many generations of shadowhunters. Did being the spawn of shadowhunters make Alec a shadowhunter? The thought made Magnus laugh, though he pretended it was because he was tipsy. He saw how the blond one had reacted earlier to the demon appearance, he could only imagine how Alec would respond if he did a magic trick in front of him. This was, without a doubt, the most fun Magnus had had in years, and the night was nowhere near over yet. 

By the time they got to the door of Magnus’s apartment, Alec’s shirt was missing his tie and his shirt was mostly unbuttoned. Magnus was equally disheveled as he turned away from Alec to unlock the door. They poured into the apartment as the door swung open, both of them tipping forward until they crashed onto the luxe oriental rug in the hall, Alec falling over Magnus and accidentally pinning him on his stomach beneath him. 

Alec muttered an apology as he pushed himself up, glancing around the apartment as he did. He couldn’t help the astonished gasp that left him as he took in his surroundings. 

“Are you rich or something?” Alec asked in awe, blindly reaching for Magnus’s arms to help him sit up.

Magnus rolled onto his back with a chuckle. “You could say that.”

“Is that an original Klimt?” Alec asked, gazing at a painting across the room.

“It is,” Magnus said, propping himself up on his elbows. “I loved his use of color.”

“Loved?”

Magnus inwardly cursed his use of the past tense. “When I bought it. I still love it, clearly.”

“Clearly,” Alec repeated with a grin. 

Magnus hooked a leg around Alec and pulled him closer, making the younger man catch himself before he could tumble onto Magnus again. 

“This is an authentic Persian rug, too,” Magnus said. “How does that make you feel?”

Alec groaned, his eyes rolling up dramatically. “I’m so turned on by your wealth right now.”

“That makes two of us,” Magnus said, looping an arm around Alec’s neck and yanking him down and into a kiss. The best way to not slip up, he decided, was to not let Alec ask any more questions. The best way to do that was to keep his mouth occupied. 

The heel of one of Magnus’s brown shoes dug into Alec’s ass, pulling his hips down against the warlock’s. Alec reached behind him and grabbed the offending shoe, pulling it off and tossing it across the room. The sound of a cat yowling angrily and scurrying off could vaguely be made out through the rushing sound in Alec’s ears. He started to look up and see if the cat was alright, but Magnus, guessing his intention, grabbed his face and kept him focused on the kiss. Magnus suggestively dug his other shoe into Alec in an attempt to get him to remove that one as well. Alec did not disappoint, tossing that shoe in the same direction as the other. 

It wasn’t long before the floor was wearing more of their clothes than they were, Magnus and Alec taking turns ripping articles of clothing off of the other and throwing them in different directions. Alec was down to his socks and underwear when he pulled away to sit back on his heels. Magnus was splayed beneath him, his shirt fully unbuttoned and spread open; he still wore his boxer briefs as well, but they were pushed halfway down his hips and hiding very little now. 

“What’s wrong?” Magnus asked, panting. Alec was just out of grabbing distance, so he trailed his fingertips down the young man’s abdomen instead, enjoying the feeling of the soft, dark hair that dusted Alec’s skin. 

“Do you want to move this to your bed?” Alec asked, equally out of breath. “I don’t want to mess up your rug.”

Magnus bit his lip against a grin. He held back the reply that he could easily clean it, and nodded. Alec instantly grabbed his wrists and pulled him to sit up, making his face level with Alec’s chest; Magnus resisted the very weird and absurd urge to rub his face against the hair there. Alec’s hands grabbed Magnus’s cheeks and tilted his head up for another kiss. Magnus took the opportunity to shrug off his unbuttoned shirt, then pulled his legs under him to stand on his knees. He gripped Alec’s shoulders and pushed himself up to stand, breaking the kiss in the process. 

Alec smirked up at Magnus as he rubbed his nose and cheek against Magnus’s barely clothed crotch, which was now directly in front of him. Magnus took a generous step away as Alec’s fingers teased the already dangerously low waistband of Magnus’s underwear. 

“Follow me,” Magnus said, crooking a finger at Alec and walking backward toward his bedroom. He didn’t bother to pull his underwear up; rather, as he turned around he pushed them further down his hips and stepped out of them as they fell, giving Alec a perfect view of his backside. He didn’t check behind him to see if Alec was following, but heard what could only have been Alec stumbling to his feet and then slipping on the marble floor once his socked feet left the carpet: it sounded a bit like a whispered “Oh, fuck!” and then a minor crash. 

“Careful, Alexander~” Magnus called back coyly. “Don’t break anything... of mine or yours.” Magnus caught sight of himself in a hallway mirror as he passed by and had to admit that the flushed skin and mussed hair were really working for him.

Before climbing onto his bed, Magnus pretended to dig in his nightstand for a condom and lube, inconspicuously summoning both to the drawer as he knew that he had neither already. He was not lying about his dry spell, and now that he thought about it, he probably hadn’t had sex since before his current partner was born, so any condoms or lube he had left over (from the 80s) would’ve been grossly out of date. He rolled onto the bed with both in hand, settling himself in the middle of his pillows just as Alec entered the room. Magnus couldn’t help the unconscious lick of his lips or parting of his legs and Alec caught both of them as he climbed onto the bed, pausing once to moan about the quality of the sheets, then continuing his ascent. 

“I know we just met, but I might be in love with you,” Alec said, kissing his way up Magnus’s smooth stomach. 

“That’s just the thread count talking,” Magnus laughed, squirming under the ticklish feeling of Alec’s lips. 

“It isn’t  _ just _ the thread count,” Alec replied. 

Alec had lost the rest of his clothes along the way and Magnus couldn’t repress a shiver as the younger man settled against him, skin flush against skin. As their lips met again, Magnus let his hands wander over the expanse of Alec’s back and wrapped his legs around Alec, lifting his hips to pull a moan from the younger man. 

“Impatient?” Alec breathed against Magnus’s lips. 

“You have no idea,” Magnus said, squeezing a buttcheek in each hand. 

There were several things Magnus wished for in this moment. One was that he could just use magic for prep; while he thoroughly enjoyed the added foreplay, he had forgotten just how long the mundane way of doing things took. Second, it occurred to him as Alec rolled on a condom that the old shadowhunter runes for stamina and flexibility would sorely be missed. Maybe if this continued past a one-night-stand he could try to track down a stele to test those out. 

He didn’t have the time to figure out how he would broach the subject with Alec as the younger man pressed into him, pushing all prior thoughts out of his mind. 

Magnus hissed a long ‘yes’ as Alec rocked into him, pressing deeper and sending chills up the warlock’s spine. 

Alec paused as he buried himself completely in Magnus with another thrust, letting the other man adjust to him. He shook hair out of his eyes and licked his lips, the sight making Magnus’s chest swell with infatuation. “I’m going to say this, and it might sound strange, but sex has not felt this good since I lost my virginity,” Alec said, pulling his hips back with a moan. “You feel so  _ good _ .”

Magnus breathed a chuckle and pushed both of his hands back through Alec’s hair, earning a kiss to each of his wrists. “I guess my celibacy is paying off then.”

“Celiba—”

“Shh,” Magnus pressed a finger to Alec’s lips. “Fuck me now, ask questions later.”

Alec grinned against the shushing finger and gave a sharp thrust as his reply, pulling groans from both of them. 

Alec sat back on his heels and pushed Magnus’s knees up, rolling his hips in a slow, steady pace. Magnus could feel himself losing his grip on his glamor and threw an arm over his eyes, his free hand gripping and clawing at Alec’s chest. Maybe it was a good thing Alec didn’t have a stamina rune, considering how little time it took for him to lose control of his magic under Alec’s touch. 

The noises coming from Magnus with each thrust spurred Alec on, a sense of urgency causing him to quicken his pace. He released Magnus’s legs, letting them fall to either side of him as he planted a hand against the bed, his other hand moving between them to wrap around Magnus’s erection. Despite not receiving any attention until now, Magnus was still rock hard, confirming for Alec that the older man was feeling as good as he did. 

Magnus rocked his hips in time with Alec’s, barely holding onto the thought that he couldn’t show Alec his eyes—something that was getting harder to remember with each rock of their hips. 

“Show me your face,” Alec panted. 

“I can’t,” Magnus moaned. He had wrapped his hand around Alec’s at some point and he felt like he was about to come at any moment. 

“Please,” Alec begged. If he had another hand, it would be prying Magnus’s arm away from his face right now. “I want to see you.” Alec slowed his movements, dragging a whimper from Magnus’s lips. He was going so painfully slow now, deliberately frustrating Magnus. 

Magnus bit his lip with some resolve and closed his eyes as he moved his arm aside. He really didn’t want this to end as soon as Alec saw his warlock mark, but he was mentally prepared to clean up the mess if necessary. 

“That’s better,” Alec breathed, leaning forward to kiss Magnus. Magnus took advantage of the move and hooked his arm around Alec’s neck, deepening the kiss as the younger man’s hips picked up speed again. The onslaught of different sensations quickly took their toll on Magnus, drawing a gasping moan from his throat as he felt orgasm approach. 

Magnus’s incoherent words were further lost in the kiss, in the back of his mind he registered that he was speaking in Chthonian gibberish as he came, fortunately not casting a spell as he did. 

He also heard the sharp inhale of air from Alec as he looked up at him, the younger man shuddering above him and bucking his hips forward sharply then rutting against him as he milked his orgasm. 

_ “Your eyes,” _ Alec finally said, his chest heaving. 

Magnus cursed inwardly and lifted a heavy hand to cover his face again. “I’m sorry, I don’t know how to explain it to you—”

“I know I look like I’m just a pretty face, but…” Alec shifted to pull out, tossing the used condom aside, the act making Magnus crinkle his nose in mild disgust. “I’m not stupid.” He settled on his side next to Magnus, a leg draped across the other man’s. 

Magnus moved his hand to look at Alec curiously. “I’m interested in how you’re making sense of this.”

“The same way I made sense of you fighting a monster in the basement of the Institute? Or the way I made sense of you making a  _ portal _ and sending my friends through it. Or the way I’ve made sense of you having the nicest apartment in Brooklyn despite your terrible wardrobe from earlier.”

Magnus quirked an eyebrow. “Continue.”

“You’re a warlock.”

Magnus’s eyes widened. “Well bite my ass and call me an apple, you aren’t just a pretty face, are you?” At Alec’s amused shrug, he continued. “How do you even… How do you  _ know _ about warlocks?”

“My family has some really old books… and now that I’m thinking about it… I vaguely recall an entry in one about a warlock with cat eyes.”

“Crazy talk, that’s impossible,” Magnus said, waving a hand. 

Alec grinned. “Magnus Bane, I do believe you are the boy my parents warned me about. And I’m really into it.”

“I’m concussed from the fall earlier or something. This is too absurd. There’s no way you  _ know _ about the downworld. It’s too convenient.”

“Is it, though?” Alec asked, drawing circles on Magnus’s chest with his fingers. “There was something about you the moment I met you. Now I know what it was.”

Magnus hummed. He was so tired now, his energy spent on using magic earlier in the day and on the events that just transpired. “It still feels too easy… like a trap… you aren’t secretly working for some underground shadowhunter mafia that’s out to kill me, are you?”

“No, no, nothing like that. Demon worshipping cult, actually.”

Magnus laughed. “Oh, that’s not better.”

“Maybe we can discuss it more on a date?” Alec asked, his voice hopeful.

Magnus side-eyed Alec with a smile. “A date?”

“Yeah. I was thinking breakfast. Maybe on your balcony, because I’m sure that you have one. Maybe after morning sex?”

“Are you going to start moving in before or after the date?” Magnus asked sarcastically.

“Oh, after, naturally. I have to make sure you aren’t a loud chewer first.”

“I’m not,” Magnus said.

“Well, that changes everything. I’ll go get the U-Haul at dawn.” They both laughed. “But, for real, how about a date?”

“You sounded so sure of yourself a moment ago,” Magnus said, referring to the hint of worry in Alec’s voice now. “A date sounds nice. But for now,” he turned onto his side, facing away from Alec. “Spoon me, pretty boy. You’ve exhausted me.” He yanked Alec’s arm around him and sighed as the other man complied and moved behind him, curling around him.

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> "But what about Magnus's lack of bellybutton?" I asked myself after I had deemed the fic finished and gone to bed.  
> Well. Shum has a bellybutton. Shum is my Magnus. This is how I'm justifying it to myself and others. Though I doubt anyone else would think about that except me.
> 
> A sequel to this would include rune play (because that's a kink now, right?) and Magnus doing very good magic. 
> 
> Comments are always welcome!


End file.
